Imagine a 17th century room filled with reverberating screams of infants and a father lackadaisically lying on a couch ignoring the cries. The only action present is that of the milkmaid who is hastily working to prepare food and milk for the family. The year is 1885; imagine a vast field with the scorching sun shining down on the bare necks of women as they face down working strenuously to cultivate the land. These were the busy times of the women where they worked even harder than some men. Women’s work was not a joke for the lower and middle class women, while the upper class women were fortunate enough to have other women doing the work for them. As a result many renowned artists such as Jan Vermeer, Vincent Van Gogh, and Jean-Francois Millet, painted the actions of these women to display the hardships these women had to face in order to sustain a well-being. The following paintings are different in style, however send the same message that was women’s work.

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Gleaners, Jean-Francois Millet, 1857

thegleaners-1857.jpg

The second painting that represents women’s work is “the Gleaners” by Jean-Francois Millet in 1857. This oil painting exhibits three peasant women working to harvest the last bits of wheat on the large field, while large stacks of wheat are piled in the background. The women’s backs are faced towards the viewers so the facial expressions are unknown; however, Millet made the women’s attires ugly and dull to publicize a message. He wanted the populace to know that although an abundance of wheat is stacked in the background, poor people, like the peasant women depicted, will never work their way up to prosperity. This provoked the French upper class, and they denied the fact that they were treating the lower class with such negligence. However, to the lower class, they felt like this painting represented the glory they received following the French Revolution. They felt that society depended on them, which started the rise of Socialism. In this painting, Millet does not place a vanishing point; rather, he blends the colors of the women and the field together to force the viewers in seeing the painting as a whole. He also sets an overall dull mood by painting the skies with pale colors.[1]

[1] "Story behind the Picture - The Gleaners | Timeline of Waste." University of St Andrews - Scotland's First University, Founded 1413. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~waste/timeline/story-pic1.html>.
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